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Government Briefs: Mental health event, National Night Out, zoning roundtable and more

CITY OF NEW RICHMOND — The Friday Memorial Library and New Richmond Community Education will host a Community Conversation on Mental Health at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, at the Community Commons.

The conversation will be led by a panel of professionals as an opportunity to increase awareness of mental health resources and to open discussions of various mental health issues that affect people in the New Richmond community.

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City accepting online payments

CITY OF NEW RICHMOND — The City of New Richmond now accepts online payments.

Users can make immediate or scheduled payments. To pay online, users can go to newrichmondwi.gov and click on “Online Payments” to access the payment processor’s website. Once there, users must register with Payment Service Network, Inc. to make a payment.

Payments can also be made by calling 1-866-917-7368.

A $1 fee will be charged for eChecks, and a 2.6 percent charge is added to credit card transactions. Visa, MasterCard and Discover are accepted.

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National Night Out

CITY OF NEW RICHMOND — At its March 11 meeting the City of New Richmond Public Safety Committee discussed bringing National Night Out events to the New Richmond community.

The event is celebrated in towns and cities around the country each year with informal neighborhood gatherings. The committee members discussed how to promote the event and how to get people involved. The issue may be brought up at a city council meeting in April.

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Zoning roundtable

CITY OF NEW RICHMOND — Developers and key members of the New Richmond community met at the New Richmond Fire & Rescue training room on Tuesday, March 18 for a roundtable discussion led by representatives from Landform, the company the city has selected to help it rewrite its zoning ordinance.

About 15 people participated in the discussion. Topics included development experiences in New Richmond, positives and negatives on the city’s development process, market realities, and what changes developers would like to see.

Landform gathered input from the discussion and will use it to help develop the city’s new zoning ordinance, which City Administrator Mike Darrow hopes will be ready for approval by mid-summer.

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National County Government Month

ST. CROIX COUNTY — The government of St. Croix County will join county governments across the United States in celebrating National County Government Month in April. Sponsored by the National Association of Counties, the month is designed to raise awareness of the roles and responsibilities of counties. The theme for this year’s celebration of NCGM is “Ready and Resilient Counties: Prepare. Respond. Thrive.”

St. Croix County Board Chair Daryl Standafer has proclaimed April as County Government Month in St. Croix County in cooperation with the national effort.

“On behalf of the Board of Supervisors and our entire employee team, we are proud of the programs and services provided to the public,” Standafer said. “We encourage all county residents to learn more about county activities and services.”

Among major service enhancements currently being completed by St. Croix County is the renovation of the former County Market grocery store in New Richmond into a new government services center. Upon completion expected by early summer, the facility will host a public open house and offer tours of all departments.

Since 1991, the National Association of Counties (NaCo) has encouraged counties to raise public awareness about the roles and responsibilities of counties.